Bokon family holds reunion

At one time, 13 family members worked for Studebaker.

At one time, 13 family members worked for Studebaker.

September 14, 2006|JENNIFER OCHSTEIN Tribune Correspondent

Each of Joe Bokon's seven children followed in his footsteps. For that matter, there was never any doubt among the Bokon kids back in the 1940s and early 1950s about where they'd get their first jobs: Studebaker. Their dad, Joe Bokon Sr., who has since died, worked there for 36 years. Recently, family members, including grandchildren, gathered back in South Bend at the Studebaker National Museum for a tour and reunion. "It was always a goal for everyone to work there," said Mary Bokon Dominiak, who worked in industrial relations at the company. "It was a peachy place to work. It was the number-one place to work in South Bend. They treated you as an individual, not as a group." But it wasn't just the number of Joe's kids who worked at the plant that made the Bokon clan famous back in 1952. Nearly all of his sons-in-law and daughters-in-law worked there, too. In all, 13 Bokon family members worked at Studebaker -- the most of any local family. Because of that, Studebaker made a 26-minute movie about the Bokons that debuted at the Granada Theatre in downtown South Bend in 1952 on the 100-year anniversary of Studebaker. The movie was also shown nationwide, not just in South Bend. And, said Vel Bokon Sikorski, public television sometimes shows it even now. She's seen it on WNIT. The film, called "A Family of Craftsmen," followed the family, which was easy to do because the family all lived in separate houses on a 10-acre tract of land west of South Bend that Joe Bokon split off for his children. The movie showed the family eating together, working together, living together and riding in Studebakers together on their way to work. They spent nearly all of their time together. "My father liked his family close to him," said Irene Bokon Ziolkowski, of South Bend. "He was proud we were hired at Studebaker." Sikorski said their father was from Hungary, coming to the United States in 1908 when he was 18. He left behind his mother and sisters. "We saw how he raised us and how to stick together," said Irene, who worked at Studebaker for three years. Her husband, Alex, worked at the company for 21 years. In all, more than 20 Bokon family members appeared in the movie, including eight of Joe Bokon's grandchildren. And Lillian Bokon Grzezinski, another of Joe Bokon's daughters, was named Miss Studebaker 1952. She was featured at the 100-anniversary celebration, which is depicted at the end of the movie. Studebaker was noted not only for its snazzy cars, but also for hiring family members, Irene Ziolkowski said. And there was no other place her brothers and sisters even considered working, said Lillian Grzezinski, of Indianapolis. "When I graduated it was just the thing to go and put in my application," said Vel Sikorski. Of the 20,000 employees at Studebaker in 1952, 5,000 were family groups, according to commentary in "A Family of Craftsmen." Given the number of families that worked at Studebaker, the Bokons said they were all surprised when they were chosen for the movie. "It was a close call," said Mary Dominiak. It was between the Bokons and another family that had 11 members working at Studebaker. The Bokons beat them out by two. Though the movie overall showed the family as they were, it wasn't realistic in the sense that they had to be ready for take after take with the same clothes, haircuts and positions day after day. The filming crew, from Hollywood, were professionals and wanted each scene to look consistent. One of the most difficult scenes in the movie was a birthday lunch after church for Joe Bokon Sr. The table settings had to be the same for each take as well as the family's clothes and even the turkey that was brought to the table to eat. They all agreed it was one dry bird. Despite their early lives together, the family has since moved on and away from each other. It's not that they wanted to, but they had to find work. According to Janet Dominiak, one of the grandchildren who appeared in the film, when Studebaker closed down in the early 1960s, it devastated the family. Joe Grzezinski, who worked at the company for 15 years, saw the last car come off the line. Janet Dominiak's dad, Cas, moved the family to Dearborn, Mich., to find work after Studebaker laid him off. The company called him back at one point, and he quickly picked up his family and moved back to South Bend. But they laid him off again and they moved back to Michigan, she said. Now the family is spread out between Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Colorado. "It pulled us apart," said Lillian Grzezinski.